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Syracuse football team opens as 38.5-point underdog, largest for program in at least 20 years (and maybe ever)

Terrel Hunt 11-9-13 vs. Maryland

Quarterback Terrel Hunt and Syracuse are 38.5-point underdogs at Florida State this week according to early lines out of Las Vegas. The Orange has not been this big an underdog in at least 20 years.
(Dick Blume | dblume@syracuse.com)

Frankly, it’s hard to imagine that program facing too many 38.5-point spreads in the 1980s or early 1990s (when Syracuse was usually pretty good). Before that, it’s hard to imagine many 38.5-point spreads involving anyone.

So it’s quite likely Syracuse is a bigger underdog this week than it ever has been before. But on the bright side, the Orange actually won the last time they were a five-touchdown underdog, a 38-35 victory over Louisville in 2007 as a 37-point ‘dog.

Here’s a full rundown of every time since 1993 that Syracuse has been a 20-point underdog. The biggest takeaway from this research: Opponents were favored by at least 20 points in 13 of former coach Greg Robinson’s 36 games --- a whopping 28.3 percent of the time.